History Repeats Itself
by Jason S. Black
Summary: The Russos are unnerved when someone vandalizes the Lair, and the break in is only a precursor to the return of an old enemy...


**History****Repeats****Itself**

by: Jason S. Black

_A Wizards of Waverly Place fanfic_

"…so I took the pancakes, slipped them under the door, and sent them bouncing around Justin's room. It was hilarious." Alex Russo laughed, slapping her knee at her own genius as she started to pack up her things into her backpack. Harper chuckled weakly.

"Yeah, that's pretty funny…" Harper's voice trailed off. "…wait a second...pancakes! I could do a pancake dress!" She bounced in her seat as the vision of said dress began to solidify in her head.

"Wait a second, you're not going to make a dress out of actual pancakes, are you?" Alex raised an eyebrow as she got out of her seat. Her friend let out a "pshaw."

"Are you kidding? What would happen to it if it rained? I'll just make them out of foam. The texture's the same, but I don't have to worry about getting attacked by birds…or kids." She bit her lip and Alex laughed again.

"Oh, shoot; I forgot that my mom and dad want me and my brothers to run the restaurant tonight after school. They're going to some stupid opera." Alex rolled her eyes.

"Ooh, I'll go with you! I can look through my arts and crafts catalog to find the perfect foam for my dress!" Harper's face lit up.

"Harper, you have to come. You live with us." They both walked to the classroom door and into the hallway.

"By the way, my parents are stopping in New York for a show, so I'm staying with them for the weekend."

"Well, I guess I'll see you when you get back; I just hope you don't have to perform."

"Believe me, I'm not going to. I'm not the 'littlest FInkle' anymore."

The rest of the school day passed in a blur, mostly because Alex tampered with the clocks to let everyone out early; although it had earned her yet another detention, she got back to the Sub Station just in time to see her brother fuming at the counter and her parents coming down the stairs sporting formal wear.

"What do you think, Justin?" Theresa held her arms out and showed off the shiny red fabric. Her father smiled behind a tuxedo.

"That's nice, Mom, but guess what your daughter did?" Justin crossed his arms and glared at his sister.

"Let me guess; she turned the clocks back to get out of school early." Jerry sighed.

"Hey, at least you're going to an early dinner. It means we can start working earlier." His daughter's smile was saccharine.

"It's fine; I'm sure she got detention. We've got to get going. We're having dinner in a revolving restaurant." His excitement was akin to Max's when he discovered the ads at the back of the wizard catalogs.

"Be good, and no magic!" Theresa's words lingered after the door closed behind them, and Alex turned and walked behind the counter with Harper in tow. She got an apron from the rack in the kitchen and slipped it on, adjusting her hair so it fell over the back.

"Okay, let's—" She looked up to see a man that looked older than Justin walking into the Sub Station, and her heart jumped into her throat; her hand reached out to grab a menu as she walked on autopilot over to him. "Hi, welcome to the Waverly Sub Station. I'm Alex. How can I help you?"

"Uh, hi. I'd like a table?" He smiled, and she shook her head to bring herself back to reality.

"Of course! Follow me!" She led him to a booth in line with the kitchen window and set the menu down, smiling a she pulled her order pad from her apron pocket. "What can I get you?"

He picked up the menu and looked it over. "I'll take a turkey club on sourdough with chips and a root beer." Her fingers made the pen fly over the paper as she wrote it down. Holding her smile, she nodded and turned around, practically jogging to the kitchen.

"Oh my gosh, Harper! The guy in the dining room is so cute!" Her smile shone on her face.

"Really? Let me see!" Harper looked out the kitchen window and gasped. "Oh my gosh! He's so cute!"

"I know! He might be old enough to be in college, but man!" She started to prepare his food, reaching into plastic containers to get the ingredients to assemble the sandwich. "Wait a second, what am I doing?" She reached into her boot and pulled out her wand, making sure to close the separator so that their newest customer wouldn't be able to see her.

"Alex, you know mom said no magic!" Both Alex and Harper jumped when Justin and Max burst into the kitchen; the older brother was still fuming.

"You seriously expected me to listen? And you seriously expected Mom to expect me not to?" Alex smiled as she swished her wand back and forth.

"Wasn't it enough that you got in trouble once today?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "There you go, asking me questions you already know the answer to again; besides, I'm not teleporting, I'm making food. A cute guy I wish to impress, so make great food, no mess or stress." Her wand tip glowed brightly and ingredients flew from all over the kitchen and joined together to make the meal the customer had ordered. Justin huffed out of his nose as she picked up the food, set it on a tray, and exited the kitchen. Her smile widened as she set the food down in front of the man.

"Wow, thanks! This looks great!" He returned her smile.

"Thanks, I made it myself. If there's anything else you need, just let me know." Alex bowed her head slightly and retreated into the kitchen. "He told me the food looked great." She giggled. It was Justin's turn to roll his eyes.

The night went smoothly, and Alex's heart was aflutter until she and her brothers went to bed. She woke up the next morning still smiling, and the process of getting ready and going to school felt like a dream until she got to her last class. She waved at Mr. Laritate, who was standing at the front of the classroom sporting his usual suit and bolo tie combo, and his eye twitched as he hesitantly waved back. When everyone was seated, he cleared his throat.

"All right, you have a new history teacher; apparently, she went slightly crazy when class kept letting out earlier than she thought." He glared at Alex when she chuckled, and continued. "Anyway, I'd like you to meet Mr. Vincent." Alex's jaw almost dropped to the floor when the man that had been in the Sub Station the previous day walked into the classroom.

"Be careful of that one." Mr. Laritate pointed at Alex and left the room, and a few moments of silence passed.

"Okay everyone, like Mr. Laritate said, I'm Mr. Vincent and I'll be teaching your class for the rest of the year. I think we'll start out with roll…okay. Harper Finkle?"

"Here!" The redhead waved her hand rapidly.

"Alex Russo?" He looked around, and Harper nudged her friend.

"Oh, uh, here." A lazy smile shone through Alex's daze.

"Oh, _you're_ the one he warned me about." He smiled and continued with roll. "Let's see…apparently, you guys left off learning about the Roman Empire. Let's pick up with Caligula. Caligula was a pretty crazy guy." Alex absentmindedly took notes for the rest of class until the bell rang. "Alex Russo? Can I see you for a second?" Her heart jumped into her throat again as she collected her things and walked up to the front of the classroom.

"Yes, Mr. Vincent?" She did her best to smile.

"You're the girl who works at the Waverly Sub Station, aren't you?" She nodded. "Would you mind if I met your parents? It's not every day you have a student who happens to work at my favorite place to eat."

"I'm sure they'd be happy to meet you!"

"All right, then. How about tonight? Around 7?" She nodded again. "Okay, Alex. See you then." His smile created warmth in her chest, and she walked out of the classroom until she hit the hallway. Quick steps took her into a secluded part of the school near the cafeteria loading dock, and she looked around before pulling her wand out of her boot.

"I no longer wish to roam, so take me home." Magic swirled from her wand and surrounded her, making her vanish and reappear in the loft's kitchen. Her mother dropped a glass when she jumped at her daughter's sudden appearance.

"Alex! Were you using magic in public?" Theresa crossed her arms.

"Yeah…I…well…I…" She gulped and caught her breath. "My history teacher wants to meet you and dad."

Theresa's brow knit. "What did you do this time? Did you fail another test? Oh no! You didn't set the classroom on fire, did you?"

"No, I didn't set the classroom on fire! He came into the Sub Station yesterday and he wants to meet the family. He says he loves to eat here." Theresa's mouth opened momentarily before she smiled.

"Well, I'll have to talk to your father, but I'm sure he'll be fine with it. I'll go see if he's down in the Lair." She was beaming as she left the room, leaving Alex to sink into a couch. She looked up when Justin came into the room.

"So Mr. Laritate said that your history teacher is coming over tonight?" Justin went straight for the kitchen.

"What's your problem? You've been Mr. Grumpy ever since I turned the clocks forward yesterday. I've done that a million times." Alex got up and sat on a stool at the kitchen island.

"It's not the clocks." He sighed and closed the refrigerator after coming out with nothing. "Do you ever get the feeling that something's really, really wrong?"

"Like what?" Alex shrugged, and her brother turned to look at her.

"I don't know. Something's been really…_off_ at school, but I can't figure out what it is."

"This couldn't have anything to do with my pancake prank, would it?" Alex chuckled at the memory, but Justin glared at her.

"_No_, it's not because of your pancake prank, though I do really appreciate having to scrape syrup off of my ceiling." He frowned. "Besides, I usually know when you're up to something, even if it is after the fact. It's…something else."

"Well, I'm sure whatever it is will either go away or cause a lot of trouble."

"Thanks, _Captain Obvious_. I'm going to go study up on some spells." Alex stuck her tongue out at him as he left and as soon as he did, her mom, dad, and younger brother came into the room.

"Come on, dad! It's only for a few days!" Max made a beeline for the refrigerator.

"And I told you, I'm not sure that I want you going to math camp just because of a girl." Jerry took a seat on the couch.

"And honey, math isn't exactly your strong suit. Wouldn't you be bored?" Theresa walked over to the kitchen island and stood near Alex.

"Yeah, I hate math, but Kate's really cute." Max crossed his arms, and Alex cleared her throat.

"So, did you guys get a chance to discuss Mr. Vincent coming here tonight to meet the family?" She smiled hopefully.

"Oh, yeah, that's fine, Alex." Jerry made a motion with his hand to dismiss his daughter, and she shrieked.

"I've got to go get ready! I have to pick out the _perfect_ outfit!" With that, she ran out of the room and up the stairs.

"Come on, dad. What's the worst that could happen?" Max poked a straw into the juice box he'd gotten from the fridge, and Theresa sighed, looking at her husband.

"I don't know. You'd be missing a few days of school…" She trailed off.

"Oh, my math teacher thought it was a really good idea." Max shrugged.

"I've gotta say, I don't think it's a good idea either, but I remember doing some pretty crazy stuff to impress you." Jerry smiled at his wife, who smiled back.

"Okay, okay. I guess you can go, but _behave_ yourself and try to learn something." Her brow knit as she look back at her son, who jumped in the air much like Alex had. He ran out of the room, making both his parents sigh.

"Now all we need is Justin to become smitten with a girl." Theresa rolled her eyes.

"Do you _really_ want that to happen?" Jerry raised an eyebrow.

"Well, maybe it would get his mind off of whatever's been bothering him. He's been really surly lately!"

"Yeah, but I'm sure it's just something really trivial. You know how teenagers like to make a big deal about nothing."

"True, but he doesn't usually get this upset. I hope it blows over soon."

While her parents were pondering their children, Alex was rifling through her closet. No one thing she had seemed perfect enough; at least, not perfect enough to make her feel like it would impress her teacher. Part of her knew that it was ridiculous, but if Harper were there, she'd be just as excited. Finally, she found a top and pants that she liked and, as soon as she was done getting ready, she ran down the stairs and into the Sub Station. Her parents had dressed up, and Justin was in his suit like always.

"Wait, why are we all standing here like we're getting our picture taken?" Jerry sighed and walked behind the counter, earning him a tap on the chest from his wife.

"Honey, you know Alex wants to make a good impression. She might actually do well in this class!" Justin chuckled at Theresa's remark, and Alex wrinkled her nose at him.

"Wait, where's Max?" She looked around.

"He's at math camp." Jerry crossed his arms and Alex laughed.

"_Math camp!_?" Her laughter stopped when Mr. Vincent walked into the restaurant. "Mr. Vincent! How are you?"

Her teacher smiled at everyone. "Hi! You must be Alex's family." He walked over to the counter and put his hands behind his back.

"I'm Jerry, this is my wife Theresa," he paused and his wife smiled and nodded, "and my son, Justin." They shook hands and he stepped back.

"Please, call me Lawrence. I'm pleased to meet all of you, and I hope I'm not intruding on a business night." He winced slightly.

"No, it's no intrusion at all. We've been meaning to take a night off for a while. Is there anything we can get you?"

"Are we having dinner?"

"Of course. Just let me know what you want and I can whip it up." Jerry smiled.

They all took a seat at one of the bigger tables and made conversation until Jerry took everyone's order and brought the food to the table. They talked about class and how things at Tribeca Prep were and, before they knew it, dinner was over.

"Well, I must say, that was a _great_ dinner. I see why I keep coming here." Lawrence got up from the table and smiled.

"And I must say that it's good to have one of Alex's teachers here without hearing the words 'By the way, did you know Alex has fourteen missing assignments?'" Theresa laughed and Alex glared at her before smiling at her teacher.

"Thanks for coming over, Mr. Vincent." Alex shook his hand and they all said goodbye, leaving her to feel like she was floating.

-X-

Alex was dragged to consciousness and she rolled over, looking at her alarm clock.

"Seven? What sort of cruel joke…?" Her words trailed off and she rolled over, trying to go back to sleep; however, she wasn't successful.

"Fine, fine, I'm up." She grumbled incomprehensibly and rolled out of bed, walking very similarly to the mummy Justin fought. Lumbering downstairs, she looked around through half-open eyes.

"Are you serious? I'm up before everyone else?" She made whining noises. "Maybe we have sleep dust in the Lair." Her feet shuffled on the floor as she went down into the restaurant, knowing somewhere in her sleep-addled brain that there wouldn't be any customers at 7 on a Saturday morning. Running purely on instinct, she trudged to the freezer and opened it, vaguely aware of the small rush of magic that came out when she did. Walking over to the stand where they kept the spellbook, she reached out and patted the stand before realizing that it wasn't there. She opened her eyes more, and the rush of adrenaline she got when she saw the rest of the Lair was enough to fully wake her. Her mouth dropped open as she surveyed everything: crystal balls shattered, books tossed from shelves, potions spilled, and chairs tipped over. She ran out of the Lair and upstairs into her parents' room.

"Mom! Dad! Wake up!" She ran to each side of the bed and shook the sleeping Jerry and Theresa.

"Alex? What are you doing up before noon?" Her mother was groggy.

"Someone trashed the Lair!" Her words were enough to wake them up as well, and everyone ran down the hall; Alex paused at Justin's door and knocked furiously. He opened his door, dazed.

"Justin! Someone trashed the Lair!" Just like his parents, he ran out of his room; Alex followed him downstairs and caught up with her parents who were standing in the ruined Lair, mouths agape.

"Alex, what did you do?" Her father turned to her with a glare on his face.

"Hey, it wasn't me! I was the one who told you about it!" She crossed her arms and glared back, making Jerry wince.

"I'm sorry, honey. It's just that every time something gets messed up around here, it's usually because of you."

Her look of indignation faded as she shrugged. "Yeah, you're right, but still. Who could have done this? A robber?"

Theresa's eyes shot open. "Oh my…Jerry, do you think we were robbed?"

Her husband shook his head. "No, this looks like vandalism, but it couldn't have been a mortal. Nobody but us can get into the Lair."

"Do you think it was a wizard?" Alex stepped forward to look around.

"It would have to have been a wizard. I guess we have to call the Wizard Police." Jerry turned to Justin.

"I'm on it, Dad." The eldest Russo child pulled out his wand and bent it, using his fingers to poke the air. It lit up briefly at his touch as he made beeping sounds before putting it to his ear like a phone. "Hello, Wizard Police? This is Justin Russo. Our wizard Lair was vandalized. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay, thank you." He straightened his wand. "They said they'd be here in—" He was cut off as the space behind the door to the wizard world lit up and the door opened, revealing two wizards in black suits and sunglasses.

"Is this the Russo Lair?" One of the cops stepped forward.

"Uh, yes, this is." Jerry stepped forward.

"We got a report that your Lair was vandalized. Which one of you is Justin Russo?"

"I am." Justin raised his hand.

"Were you the one who discovered this?"

"No, my sister Alex did." At these words from her brother, Alex looked stunned for a second before grabbing her father's arm and pulling him away from the group.

"Um, Dad? I don't think it's the best idea for me to talk to the wizard cops." She bit her lip.

"Why not? Wait…what did you do?" He frowned at her.

"Well, I—"

"Alex? We need to talk to you." One of the wizards tapped his foot impatiently.

"Um…hi, Officer Warren." She gave him a sheepish grin.

"Alex? Alex _Russo_? So _you're_ the one who pelted Officer Bananas here with water balloons! He said he saw a demonic-looking girl running from the scene." Warren laughed, but the other officer glared at him. "I mean, that was very naughty. Bad Alex. Anyway, we need to get the details about what happened. When did you find the Lair like this?"

"About seven." She frowned at the thought of having woken up that early.

Warren scribbled on a notepad with his wand. "Okay, and did anything look suspicious? Did anyone else come into your restaurant last night?"

Jerry chimed in. "We had Alex's teacher over for dinner last night, but we were locked up because we were closed."

"Okay, and does anyone besides the four of you know where your Lair is?"

"Well, my brother Max isn't here, but the only other person who knows is my friend Harper, but she can't get in here without us."

"Why not?"

"Because if anyone else besides a wizard tries to get in here, it'll be the walk-in cooler."

"I'd say it was definitely a wizard, then." Officer Bananas gave a shrug, but Warren glared at him.

"Well, duh. Anyway, we'll take a look around." Both Warren and Bananas pulled out their wands and began pointing them around the room, walking around as they did so; their wand tips glowed brightly. "We're trying to find out if any magic's been used recently, and it looks like whoever broke in here did it last night while you were asleep; used a lot of it, too. Let's see if we can't find anything else." They both walked to the Lair's entrance and opened it, going into the restaurant. The Russos followed them and they went through the kitchen, into the main restaurant. "Well, the trail ends here, but there's a really high concentration of magic right here." Warren pointed to a spot in the middle of the dining room. "That usually means someone teleported in."

"So, can you figure out who it is?" The officers shaking their heads made Alex's sense of hope fade slightly.

"Unfortunately, we can't trace spells unless they're unique to the wand casting them. We'll keep an eye on your place, though, in case this happens again. Until then, have a good day." The Russos thanked him and they left through the door to the Wizard World, going as quickly as they'd come.

-X-

The following Monday, Alex went to school still unnerved by the crime; after all, changing the clocks at school was one thing, but breaking into the Lair was a completely different story. She'd received a text from Harper saying that she wouldn't be in school until history class because of a dentist's appointment. When history class rolled around, Alex stood outside of the classroom, arms crossed and foot tapping the floor; Harper showed up and Alex latched onto her.

"Alex, what's wrong?" Harper pulled back.

"The Lair got broken into."

Harper's jaw dropped. "What? When?"

"A couple of days ago; Saturday."

Harper frowned. "Wait a second…how'd someone break into the Lair? Can't only…_wizards_…get in there?" She whispered "wizards."

"That's the thing. Only…_wizards_…can, and the," she looked around before continuing, "_wizard police_ said that it was a _wizard_."

"Oh my gosh! Do you think that there's a rogue _wizard_ going around?"

Alex crossed her arms. "I don't know, but home just doesn't feel…safe, you know?"

Harper hugged her friend. "It's okay, Alex. How about I sleep in your room tonight? It'll make you feel safe."

Alex stepped back and beamed at her friend. "Thanks, Harper. I just hope the wizard police can figure out who did it." Her eyes went wide as someone walked by just as she said the word "wizard." "Yeah, the police. They're wizards. With…crime." Biting her lip, she walked into the classroom and sat down.

"Alex, can I see you after class?" Alex snapped out of her funk and looked up as her teacher addressed her.

"I swear, whatever burned down, it wasn't me." The class laughed.

Mr. Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Burned down? No, I just want to talk."

"Oh, sorry. Usually, when teachers want to see me after class, something burned down, or someone set the clocks ahead, or someone's locker got filled with…you know what? I'll just see you after class." Because of her teacher's question, she couldn't pay attention, though she vaguely remembered hearing about the fall of the Roman Empire before the bell rang. Still in a daze, she approached the teacher's desk.

"What's up, Mr. Vincent?"

"Alex, is something wrong? You seem really distracted; and not the kind of distracted that you usually are when you're not paying attention."

Alex let out a weak laugh. "Yeah, well, I guess I'm just…I dunno. Someone broke into the Sub Station and trashed our…" Her eyes went wide. "…freezer."

Mr. Vincent frowned. "Someone trashed your _freezer_?"

"Um, yeah. My family's pretty shaken up about it, but the police are looking into it."

"Well, if you ever need to talk, I'm here." He smiled at her.

She smiled back. "Thanks, Mr. Vincent." With that, she turned and walked out of the classroom.

-X-

After everyone was asleep, Harper awoke in the middle of the night with a dry mouth. Being careful not to wake Alex (as if anything short of an atomic blast would), she crept downstairs and turned on the lights for the living room and kitchen. As she ambled over to the refrigerator, she frowned when she realized that something felt off, but she shrugged it off and got a juice box from the fridge. When she turned around, she let out a gasp and nearly dropped fruit punch all over the floor when she saw someone covered in a black hooded cloak.

"Restraneous instantaneous!" Before she could scream, she found herself tied up in ropes with a gag in her mouth. She started to fall to the floor, but the intruder waved a wand and kept her upright.

-X-

"No! I don't want a cardboard sandwich!" Alex tossed and turned in bed before opening her eyes. When the fact that it was still dark registered with her, she let out a frustrated sigh.

"Is it impossible for me to sleep for more than two hours around here?" She grumbled to herself until she picked up on something. "Harper?" She turned on her bedside lamp and saw that Harper wasn't in the bed, and she let out another sigh. "She's probably getting something to drink." She got out of bed and, still muttering to nobody, walked down the hallway to the spiral staircase. As soon as she got down there, she saw Harper, or rather, the back of her friend's head, because she was sitting on the couch. "Harper, what are you—" She walked around the couch and stopped in mid-sentence when she saw that Harper was bound and gagged. "Oh my gosh! What happened?" She was so wrapped up in the shock of seeing her friend like that that she didn't notice a dark figure step out from under the staircase.

"Restraneous instantaneous!" Like Harper, Alex was suddenly tied up and gagged as soon as the spell hit her. She let out muffled screams, but the cloaked wizard kept her upright with a wand and set her on the couch next to Harper.

-X-

In the parents' bedroom, one of Jerry's eyes opened slowly, looking at his wife to make sure she was still sleeping.

"Theresa? Honey?" She stirred but didn't wake at his quiet words, so he grinned and got out of bed. Now was the perfect time to sneak down to the kitchen and make a giant ham, turkey, and bacon sandwich without catching any flack about how he didn't need to add twenty pounds of meat to his already ample frame. He jumped as soon as he got to the bedroom door when the lamp by Theresa's side of the bed turned on.

"Jerry, you wouldn't happen to be sneaking down to the kitchen to make yourself a midnight meal, would you?" She was sitting up in bed, arms crossed. He winced and turned around, a saccharine smile on his face.

"Why, whatever gave you that idea?"

She frowned. "The last time you got out of bed in the middle of the night, you came back smelling like Thanksgiving dinner AND Easter brunch."

He chuckled. "Now, honey, I—" He cut himself off and ran out of the room, and she scrambled out of bed to chase him.

"Get back here! I don't want to be vacuuming crumbs out of the bed for the next week!" She caught him at the bottom of the stairs and grabbed on to his shirt.

"Restraneous instantaneous!" Jerry fell to the floor as he was bound by the spell, and her eyes went wide with shock and surprise. "Jerry!" She looked up in time to see someone covered by a cloak pointing a wand at her. On instinct, she ducked as the wizard fired another Restraining Spell at her, and the magic flew into the lamp and shattered it. She ran and took cover behind the kitchen island, hearing crashes as the wizard fired more spells at her. Hugging the island with her back, she tried to still her heartbeat and listened as the air fell silent. She turned around and peeked over the counter, heart stopping when she didn't see the intruder. When she heard a noise behind her, she turned around and let out a yell when she saw the wizard; before she could react, she was magically tied up like the rest of them.

-X-

Justin shot up in bed when he heard a loud crash and immediately went for the wand on his nightstand. Fully alert and awake, he slowly opened his door and crept out into the hallway. Before he went any farther, he pointed his wand at his feet.

"Feet, muffle, make no sound. I don't want anyone to know I'm around." His socks glowed briefly and he stepped forward, not making any noise as he did so. He took a deep breath when he got to the top of the stairs, and he had his wand at the ready. The metal did nothing to give him away as he snuck down the spiral staircase and, as soon as he got to the bottom, his eyes went wide as he saw someone in a cloak and hood levitating his bound and gagged mother to the couch. He jumped down the last few steps, brandishing his wand.

"Spandau Ballet, tell me it's true, take this evil man, you know what to do!" Magic arced from his wand tip, but the wizard waved his wand and sent his own spell out that met Justin's in midair. The oldest Russo child gritted his teeth as the spells clashed and created sparks, and it was much like trying to push magnets of the same polarity together. The two wizards struggled, each trying to overpower the other, but the cloaked wizard sent a surge of magic through his spell and kicked Justin's wand out of his hand. Justin's jaw hit the floor and, just as the other wizard started to cast a spell, he pointed a finger.

"Boom, pop, pow, fireworks!" The air exploded in bursts of multicolored sparks, and the intruder faltered, allowing Justin enough time to scramble for his wand. "Don't know his name, create a flame!" A stream of fire launched itself at the wizard, but the cloaked figure ducked.

"Restraneous instantaneous!" Justin's wand fell to the floor as he became tied up like the rest of his family. The wizard magically picked him up and set him on a chair in the living room, and the mysterious person stood before them. "Where's your other son, Max?" Jerry tried to talk through his gag, and the wizard sighed, waving his wand to remove it.

"He's not here. He's at math camp."

"Math camp? If you're lying to me…" The wizard stepped forward menacingly, wand tip ablaze with magic.

"No, I'm not lying!"

The magic faded as the wizard stepped back. "That's a shame. I wanted him to be here for this."

"Who are you?" Jerry shifted in his seat.

"Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. You mean you don't know who I am?" The wizard pulled back his hood to reveal…Mr. Vincent. Everyone's eyes went wide.

"Alex's history teacher?"

"Well, for now." Lawrence smiled and waved his wand, removing everyone else's gags.

"What do you have against my family?" Alex glared daggers at him.

"Well, it's not what I have against your family. It's what my father has against your family."

Jerry frowned. "Your father?"

"Oh, you can call me Lorenzo Vicente."

"Vicente? Why does that sound familiar?" Jerry's brow knit.

Lorenzo let out a sigh. "I guess my aunt's spell worked better than I thought." He pointed his wand at Jerry, earning gasps from the entire family. "Do what you say, say what you mean, one thing leads to another, remember." Jerry's eyes glazed over as the spell took effect. "Now, tell me you don't remember Arturo Vicente."

Jerry's eyes went wide. "Oh, no."

"Jerry, what's going on?" Theresa looked at her husband.

"Let me explain." Lorenzo turned his attention back to the entire family. "My dad and Jerry here used to be really good friends. My aunt Maria used to have a crush on Jerry, actually, but my dad didn't like him because he was a showoff; always going around and showing everyone how good he was with his powers. My aunt had a huge crush on him but, being the jerk that he was, he turned her down; a few times, actually. When my dad went to confront Jerry here, he said that my aunt "wasn't his style," so my dad challenged him to a duel. Jerry ended up putting my dad in the wizard hospital because he got turned into jelly, so my dad ended up missing the Wizard Competition and my aunt won. Of course, my dad was angry about that and stole Aunt Maria's wand to get revenge, but she found out and used a spell to erase their memories. My dad got his memory back a few years ago, and he trained me with enough spells to get revenge for him." Everyone was stunned.

"Jerry, is this true?" Theresa looked at him in disbelief.

Jerry winced. "Well, yeah, kinda. I only turned her down because I was too busy having fun and studying for the Wizard Competition!"

Lorenzo pointed his wand at Jerry. "And because of you, my dad lost out on the chance to be the Family Wizard. So, guess what I'm going to do?"

Alex piped up. "Bore us with more of your life story?" A wave of Lorenzo's wand replaced her gag.

"No. I'm going to destroy your power fuses so that you all can be one big happy magic-free family. So, Jerry, would you be a dear and tell me where your power panel is?"

"No, Dad, don't tell him!" Justin struggled against his bonds.

"Look, I know you want to be noble and save your family, but you're not really in a position to do anything but what I say. Tell me where the power panel is, and I'll destroy the fuses and let you all go. If you don't…" Lorenzo's wand tip glowed red.

"It's in the Lair behind a stack of boxes." Jerry hung his head.

"See? Isn't it better when you cooperate?" Lorenzo's cloak swished as he turned to walk downstairs.

"Dad, what are you doing? He's going to take our magic and you just tell him how to do it?" Justin was fuming.

"Justin, calm down. I did that so I can give us some time to figure something out." Jerry sighed.

"You know, Mr. Russo, he's kinda got us tied up with no magic and no way to escape. How can we figure something out?" Everyone's attention turned to the center of the room as Max flashed in.

"No fair! You wait until I'm gone to have Tied Up Night? What kind of family does that!" Max crossed his arms, glaring at everyone.

"Max! What are you doing here?" Theresa's mouth was agape.

"Oh, they kicked me out of Math Camp because I couldn't do long division. It's long! Why would I want to do that when I can have a calculator show me the answers?"

"Max, listen. An evil wizard has us tied up and we need you to untie us. Use your magic," Jerry urged.

"How do I do that?" Max pulled his wand out of his back pocket.

"Use the spell—" Jerry was cut off as Lorenzo came into the room, holding the Power Fuses. "Max, look out!" Lorenzo brandished his wand, and fired a spell at Max, but the youngest Russo ducked and ran behind the chair Justin was sitting on. Lorenzo set the Power Fuses down and cast another spell that hit the lamp next to Justin.

"Hey, what's the deal?" Max popped up from behind the chair.

"Max! Do something!" Justin's eyes went wide when Lorenzo pointed his wand straight at him.

"Uh…um…chickens, chickens, chickens!" Max's wand flared and, in an instant, the room was filled with chickens.

"Chickens? Is that all you've got?" Lorenzo raised his wand to cast a spell.

"Max! Do your Chicken Distracting Dance!" Justin yelled, and his brother started to perform the dance. Every chicken in the room looked at him and, as Justin had planned, so did Lorenzo. "Now, untie us, Max! use Releaseus Immediatus!"

Max waved his wand. "Releaseus Immediatus!" Everyone's bonds and Alex's gag vanished, and Justin got up out of his chair just as Lorenzo snapped out of his trance. When he realized that he didn't have his wand, he snatched Max's.

"Restraneous Instantaneous!" When Justin's spell hit, Lorenzo fell to the floor, tied up. Justin wasted no time in calling the Wizard Police, who arrived in seconds.

"Officer Warren, _this_ is who trashed our Lair, and he tied us up and tried to destroy our Power Fuses." Alex stepped forward, rubbing her wrists.

"Good work, Russos." Officer Warren stepped forward and levitated Lorenzo to a standing position. "We can take him to jail where he belongs.

Unbeknownst to the Russos and Wizard Police, Lorenzo had managed to hold on to his wand and adjusted it so that it was touching the ropes around his wrists. A slight motion caused his wand tip to burn through the ropes, freeing his hands. In one quick motion, he tapped the knot on his gag and it fell apart; though the officers sprang into action, he waved his wand.

"Releasus Immediatus!" The bonds around his ankles vanished and everyone who had a wand pointed it at the rogue wizard. "You haven't seen the last of me, Russos. Not by a long shot." Waving his wand again, he flashed out and disappeared.


End file.
